10 | Friday, March 22, 2019 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY CULTURE HK Cinema RollingRolling withwith the the times times The paucity of locally made movies in the ongoing Hong Kong International Film Festival makes Elizabeth Kerr wonder about the future of the industry.

n the mid-1990s, the Hong Kong fi lm Mainland beckons industry was still buzzing, with over Sandwiched between the Berlin Interna- 300 fi lms produced on average each tional Film Festival in February and The year, by some accounts, before the Cannes Festival in May, HKIFF is often a Ifrenzy slowed. By 2000, the number had victim of the calendar. reportedly plummeted to just 40. In 2018, For example, as Chong says, Media Hong Kong International Film Festival Asia has a “great” fi lm produced by Ann (HKIFF) screened only two new Hong Kong Hui that could have been a perfect fi t for fi lms: Simon Chung’s I Miss You When I See HKIFF, except that it couldn’t be shown You and Angie Chen’s documentary i’ve got before its release on the Chinese mainland. the blues, which was the sole premiere. At “The Hong Kong industry is at the mercy the time, HKIFF programmers chalked it up of the calendar,” he adds. to cycles, but, a year later, the 43rd edition of Nick Cheung and Yang Zi Crisel Consunji and Anthony Wong in Oliver With profit margins so lean to begin the festival opened with a single new Hong in Bodies at Rest. Chan’s Still Human. with, entry or not into HKIFF comes Kong fi lm, Bodies at Rest, a Hong Kong- “down to commercial considerations,” says Chinese mainland coproduction directed Lee. Producers favor a commercial release by the Finnish fi lmmaker Renny Harlin, of on the mainland over showing in HKIFF. Cli hanger fame. “And I have to admit I did the same thing Since the nadir in 2000, production has when I was at Emperor,” adds Lee. picked up to roughly 60 films annually, Despite perceived restrictions on the half of which are coproductions with fi lm mainland, many fi lmmakers are sanguine companies on the mainland. about the reality of fi lmmaking there. Har- However, John Chong, co-founder of lin made three fi lms (including Bodies) in Media Asia Entertainment Group, a Hong fi ve years since moving to Beijing. Kong fi lm production company, is not wor- For him the decision to relocate was ried about competition from the mainland. based on artistic opportunity: While West- “I’m optimistic… I’ve been in the industry ern fi lmmaking models are shrinking to since the mid-1980s. Every year we’ve been fit streaming platforms, new cinemas in a ‘crisis.’ But Hong Kong is very nimble,” are coming up on the Chinese mainland he says, noting that four of the 12 highest- every day. Directors who want to make grossing fi lms ever on the mainland were by cinematic movies are likely to fl oat toward Hong Kong fi lmmakers. Citing the massive Renny Harlin (extreme left) with the cast of his film Bodies at Rest at the Hong Kong International Film the resources that allow such opportuni- success of Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid, Festival 2019 opening ceremony. ties, and Hong Kong could get swept up Dante Lam’s Operation Red Sea and Raman in the shift. Hui’s Monster Hunt and its sequel, Chong “I think there is a move in that direction says the real issue is aging talent. in some ways,” says Harlin. “If you want to “The current crop of local fi lmmakers is make movies for the big screen there’s a in their 50s and 60s. We need new blood. lot of competition going on if you’re not a That’s the biggest problem.” Marvel Top 10 choice, and it makes China Albert Lee, executive director of HKIFF an option.” society and former CEO of Emperor Motion He adds that one has to work within Pictures, says new talent is appearing. the parameters of industry-specifi c rules “In the last few years, newer, younger in every culture and has never felt con- fi lmmakers have been coming up,” Lee says, strained by those in China. “I’ve never felt adding that while the more established that really a ects my work here.” directors have left to make big-budget fi lms John Chong Lee Cheuk-pan Albert Lee G Affairs’ Lee agrees, reasoning that on the mainland, the growing number of filmmakers here simply need to under- younger fi lmmakers and small fi lms “is a stand the market. He says he is open to good sign”. making a fi lm on the Chinese mainland, Chong, however, doesn’t think the indus- given “any fi lmmaker wants access to as try needs young fi lmmakers particularly, many resources and as big a budget and all just new ones. Both Chong and Lee point the possibilities as they can get.” to programs like Create Hong Kong’s First In typical Hong Kong fashion, the local Feature Film Initiative (FFFI) as being a film industry is simply rolling with the major boost to new talent and one that has changes rather than collapsing. gone a long way to righting the ship. So far, “I’m not sure Hong Kong has ever real- the FFFI’s credits include Wong Chun’s Mad ly had an ‘industry’, even in its heyday,” World, Oliver Chan’s Still Human and Lee argues Lee, who says a true fi lm industry Cheuk-pan’s G A airs — the last two show- is one with supporting infrastructure such ing at HKIFF this year. as legal frameworks, banking systems and To nurture new talent, production giants unions. like Media Asia and Emperor need to be “Hong Kong is not mature. It doesn’t willing to take a fi nancial hit and remain have the components needed to make an satisfi ed with critical acclaim on the festival industry,” he says. “But there will always be circuit or at the most a modest run at home. Hanna Chan in Lee Cheuk-pan’s G Affairs, made as part of CreateHK’s First Feature Film Initiative. people in Hong Kong making fi lms.”

Exhibition It runs deeper than #MeToo

By REBECCA LO females of all ages and backgrounds, exhibition’s images are disturbing — with a few male voices as they relate some contain explicit graphic content It may be argued that the male gaze is to women. For example, Dong Jinling’s and are open to viewing by those over nowhere more obvious than in art. Over self-portrait and video illustrate the Bei- 18 — Pfe er also fi nds humor in works the past couple of millennia, paintings jing artist’s decision to feed her newborn such as Wong Ping’s animation. “It’s and sculpture depicting women could with milk solely from her left breast, funny,” she says. “It invites people to not be viewed as exploitative by today’s exposing a very private moment for take things too seriously.” #TimesUp standards. public consumption. Frankfurt-based The Beijing artist Ma Qiusha’s video German curator Susanne Pfef- Jana Euler revisits the archetype of a shows cosmetics being consumed quite fer has extended the idea of the male woman descending a staircase by show- literally. Pfe er remarks that an obses- gaze, focusing on the structural vio- ing herself ascending a staircase in the sion with beauty can be simultaneously lence a ecting the lives of contempo- bu to defy objectifi cation in her oil-on- entertaining and alarming. “When it rary women. Pfe er — the director of canvas work. London-based Marianna comes to beauty, there are standards Frankfurt’s Museum of Modern Art, Simnett examines how beauty is linked for women on how to optimize their (Museum für Moderne Kunst, or MMK) with chastity and obedience in her body,” she says. “This places huge pres- — brought together local and interna- repressive fi lm The Udder. Hong Kong sure on females, and causes them to tional artists for a site-specifi c show at artist Wong Ping’s Who’s the Daddy su er due to unrealistic expectations Wong’s Ping’s film Who’s the Daddy Marianna Simnett’s film, The Udder, looks at the darker Tai Kwun Contemporary. Called “Per- employs cheerful primary colors with of how they are supposed to look. Ma satirizes male gender stereotypes. side of obsession with physical appearances. forming Society: The Violence of Gen- childlike simplicity mistreats the product to emphasize der”, the show was commissioned by Tai to critique stereo- that it’s not a good idea to consume Kwun’s head of art, Tobias Berger. typical notions them thoughtlessly.” “This exhibition is completely di er- of masculinity Pfe er says the #MeToo and #Times- ent than when I fi rst came up with the that harm both Up movements “didn’t happen in Ger- idea three years ago,” admits Pfe er. genders. many — though they do raise women’s “Trump and Brexit have changed the Although concerns that they can’t fl irt anymore,” world.” Her concept for the show was many of she notes with a smile. “This show, how- to explore how “the everyday presence the ever, goes much deeper than #MeToo. of structural violence causes a mute It touches upon the historical gender paralysis. The defi nitions of gen- power struggle and the need to speak der based on symbolic, cultural up against it. It takes a position for and physical boundaries are as standing up versus speaking up, as hard and clear as they are painful speaking up depends on who is talking.” to experience. Upbringing, cul- tural attribution, existing power IF YOU GO structures, social codes, religious Performing Society: traditions, and biological mani- The Violence of Gender festations unite to form a vio- Curated by Susanne Pfeffer lent normative framework that Dates: Until April 28 Venue: Tai Kwun Contemporary, governs body, sexuality, identity, Curator Susan Pfeffer lifts the curtain on Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and and behavior.” entrenched gender definitions in a group Arts, 10 Hollywood Road, Central Liu Yefu’s double-channel high-definition video projection on 3D-printed screen is part The exhibition gives voice to show at Tai Kwun. www.taikwun.hk/en/ of the “Performing Society: The Violence of Gender” exhibition.